With Walmart Brighter Futures, the League for Innovation in the Community College continues its long history of leading workforce development initiatives. Walmart Brighter Futures 3.0, the third iteration of this workforce development project funded by the Walmart Foundation, focuses on career mobility for incumbent retail workers, specifically by providing the core skills and knowledge needed to move into management and leadership roles in the retail industry.

To meet the challenges of Walmart Brighter Futures 3.0, the League has partnered with the Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC) to build its “gold standard” Retail Management Certificate (RMC) into the project. Scaling the RMC to the entire retail sector is the first of two overarching goals. The second major goal is to increase employer support for employees who are seeking the credential. The Walmart Brighter Futures 3.0 cohort of 12 colleges is currently expanding the footprint of the RMC and recruiting more retail sector employers to the initiative.

With its primary mission to provide educational and leadership opportunities for food industry associates, the League and colleges participating in Walmart Brighter Futures 3.0 have found the optimal industry partner. The expertise that the WAFC’s RMC Director brings to the table is critical to the project’s success. Since the inception of the RMC in 1999, Cherie Phipps has partnered with over 150 community colleges and has worked with WAFC-member employers to advance the program in the retail grocery industry. WAFC’s commitment to community colleges is evidenced by its choice to partner exclusively with these institutions because of their accessibility, affordability, and scalability. As a result of Phipps’s efforts, industry and employer engagement and support are contributing to the success of participating students.

The League values its association with the WAFC and applauds the RMC program, which was recognized by the White House in 2015 as a tool to build education depth in retail and help “upskill the nation.”

For more information about the Walmart Brighter Futures 3.0 project, visit www.league.org/wbf3.

Andrew Meyer

Vice President, Workforce Development, League for Innovation in the Community College